UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : Environment, Geography, Sci-Tech MCQs on Europa Clipper, soil organic matter and more (Week 81) (2024)

UPSC Essentialsbrings to you its initiative of subject-wise quizzes. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus. Attempt today’s subject quiz onEnvironment, Geography, Science and Technologyto check your progress. Come back tomorrow to solve theEconomyQuiz.

1. Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)

2. Carbon Capture and Utilisation

3. Solar Radiation Management

4. Direct Air Capture

How many of the above are geoengineering or climate engineering approaches?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

Explanation

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—A new study has argued that spraying millions of tonnes of diamond dust in the Earth’s upper atmosphere every year could help cool down the Earth and combat global warming. Several other compounds, such as sulphur, calcium, aluminium, and silicon, have been suggested previously for doing the same job. Such solutions are known as geoengineering.

—Geoengineering refers to any large-scale attempt to alter the Earth’s natural climate system to counter the adverse impacts of global warming.

Different methods of geoengineering

Solar Radiation Management (SRM): In SRM, the materials are proposed to be deployed in Space to reflect incoming solar rays and prevent them from reaching Earth.

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies: These include Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU), and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS).

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Direct Air Capture (DAC) method: In this method, carbon dioxide is sucked out through large “artificial trees” from ambient air and directed towards storage sites or utilisation.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 2

With reference to the soil organic matter (SOM), consider the following statements:

1. It is the portion of organic residues in soil in various stages of decay.

2. It can retain large amounts of water and nutrients which helps to increase soil biodiversity.

3. It increases erosion and leaching.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 2 only

(d) 3 only

Explanation

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Soil organic matter (SOM) refers to the organic remains in soil that are in various states of degradation. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

—Although it only makes up a small portion of the soil matrix, SOM has a substantial impact on soil health.

—SOM retains a lot of water and nutrients, which helps to preserve and expand soil biodiversity, improve water and nutrient availability, and prevent erosion and leaching. Hence, statement 2 is correct and statement 3 is not correct.

—The primary component of SOM is carbon, also known as soil organic carbon (SOC). This carbon is the greatest terrestrial carbon reservoir, making soils critical to our planet’s carbon cycling.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: http://www.fao.org)

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QUESTION 3

Which was the first animal to have its genome entirely deciphered?

(a) Nematode

(b) Drosophila melanogaster

(c) Mus musculus

(d) Takifugu rubripes

Explanation

—The 1-millimetre nematode has helped scientists understand how healthy cells are programmed to kill themselves and how this process fails in AIDS, strokes, and degenerative disorders. (That work was the focus of the 2002 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.)

—The Nobel Committee acknowledged self-proclaimed “worm people” in 2006 for discovering gene silencing, which served as the foundation for a completely new class of medications.

—The most famous nod came from Sydney Brenner, who won the first “worm Nobel.”

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—The nematode was the first animal to have its genome entirely deciphered — in 1998, years before scientists were able to do the same for flies and mice.

—The worms have only 959 cells, a wonderfully manageable quantity when compared to our billions of cells, each of which scientists have named and tracked from fertilisation to death.

—The fate of each cell is simple to track since the worms become translucent under a microscope and cycle through all embryonic stages in roughly three days.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 4

With reference to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), consider the following statements:

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1. The governing body for the CBD is the Conference of the Parties (COP).

2. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) is based in Nairobi.

3. The Convention on Biological Diversity is an outcome of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Explanation

—The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came out of the same 1992 Rio Earth Summit that gave rise to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Hence, statement 3 is correct.

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—CBD aims to protect global biodiversity, restore natural ecosystems, and ensure that benefits from the world’s biological resources are equitably distributed.

—The 16th Conference of Parties to the CBD, or COP16, is the first since a historic biodiversity pact was signed two years earlier. This agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was signed at COP15 in Montreal in 2022, establishes four goals and 23 targets to be met collectively by 2030.

—The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international legal instrument ratified by 196 countries that promotes “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources.”

—The Convention on Biological Diversity addresses biodiversity at all levels, including ecosystems, species, and genetic resources. It also addresses biotechnology, notably the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

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— The CBD’s governing body is the Conference of the Parties (COP). Hence, statement 1 is correct.

—The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) is based in Montreal, Canada. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: http://www.un.org)

QUESTION 5

With reference to the Europa Clipper, consider the following statements:

1. It is the first mission designed to conduct a detailed study of Saturn’s moon Europa.

2. The mission is planned to end in 2034 with a planned crash into Ganymede.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

Europa Clipper is the first mission aiming to conduct a thorough examination of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

—Europa Clipper will see beneath the moon’s icy crust, where an ocean is believed to be swirling near the surface.

—Clipper, with its huge solar panels, is NASA’s largest spacecraft built to examine another planet. It will take 5.5 years to reach Jupiter and will pass within 16 miles (25 kilometres) of Europa’s surface, much closer than any other spacecraft.

— The mission will finish in 2034 with a programmed collision with Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

—Europa is one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons and is nearly the same size as our own. It is enclosed in an ice sheet that is estimated to be 10 to 15 miles (15 to 24 km) thick.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: science.nasa.gov)

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 81)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 81)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 80)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 80)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 80)

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UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : Environment, Geography, Sci-Tech MCQs on Europa Clipper, soil organic matter and more (Week 81) (2024)

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